''Sex and the City'''s Miranda is pregnant

”Sex and the City”’s Miranda is pregnant

Whoa! Anyone who was, like me, expecting a steamy ”Sex and the City” was in for a shock. Suddenly, we were in the eye of an emotional hurricane: talk of having kids, infertility, abortions, former flings, current loves… the Lifetime network could program an entire year with the topics covered on the August 5 episode!

That said, what a brilliant half hour. Just when I thought Samantha would go on screwing Manhattan, Charlotte would devote each week to decorating a new room, and Carrie would be undeserving of Aidan’s sexy sensitivity, Miranda saved the day. Continuing with the momentum of recent episodes, Cynthia Nixon’s formerly tightly wound attorney has proven she has more range as a human being than most TV characters. When she yelled, ”Forget my life! I’m having Steve’s baby! Pizza for everybody!” I laughed. When she tenderly walked behind Charlotte, I wept. When she shrieked ”Mother f—er!” before going in to get an abortion, I felt her confusion, pain, and surrendering sadness.

I’m sure much will be read into the fact that she didn’t go through with the abortion. But unlike other pregnancy story lines (remember Andrea on ”Beverly Hills 90210”?), the character’s decision not to terminate her pregnancy didn’t seem like it was decided by the network’s corporate parent. The episode clearly came down on the pro-choice side, with both Carrie and Samantha discussing their own abortions. But it also went far beyond the political implications of having a character choose one or the other. This specific pregnancy, with Steve, at this age, seemed right.

I wonder how much warmth the audience could muster for Charlotte if she were pregnant — she is completely neurotic. I have all the sympathy in the world for a couple who can’t conceive but when she took it out so harshly on Miranda, I wished I could crawl into the TV set and remind her that she shouldn’t be in such a rush to get knocked up since any child of hers and Trey’s would require so many years of daily therapy that they may as well save some bucks for a few more years. Phew.

The rest of the episode was perfectly fine. Sam’s Lucy Liu thing was tolerable. Carrie toned down her whining of recent episodes. Her visit to confront Chad at the Saloon was pathetic and funny at the same time and gave some much needed depth to Carrie. But the best part of the half hour was the last couple of minutes with these four friends toasting to a new addition to the club. How smart of the writers to go in a potentially scary but ultimately rewarding new direction with the show. Let’s just hope fashion victim Carrie isn’t in charge of the baby clothes.

What did you think of the 11th episode? Talk about it and vote for the very best moment in our poll.

See EW.com’s ”Sex and the City” Guide